Today, we’d like to introduce you to Helen Dent.
Hi Helen, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve basically been writing since I could hold a crayon. Growing up, books were central to my family’s life. There were lots of read-alouds, lots of trips to the library. I loved Nancy Drew and Narnia and A Wrinkle in Time – you could basically always find me either with a book in my hand or roller-skating (and sometimes both together)!
When I started seriously writing short stories and books of my own, though, they fell short of what I’d imagined, so I put that dream away and pursued a different career (still book-related, of course). Years later, I picked the old dream up, dusted it off, joined a writer’s group, and I’ve been writing ever since.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Not a smooth road in the same way that exercise isn’t – it requires daily determination and, often, stretching myself past what I thought I could do. Maybe sports is a better analogy, because to do any sport well, you have to learn to receive feedback constructively, to make it part of your own practice. As I mentioned before, I’m part of a writer’s group, the DFW Writer’s Workshop, and I’ve received not only years of helpful critique there but also the encouragement not to give up, to keep working on the project, to keep pressing forward.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I write in the genres of magical realism and low fantasy (where magical elements occur in a real-world setting). For example, my young adult novel, The Burning Tree, is set in a contemporary town where there is both a feud and a curse – and my main character, Ellie, has to work with her nemesis from the other family to figure out how to solve both. I often weave mythology or fairy tale elements into my stories, and those are my favorite parts . . . the moments when the story world opens up into something luminous.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Yes, I really wish I’d known that stories don’t just spring fully formed onto the page. So, for anyone who is just starting out, if you write a story and it doesn’t seem complete somehow, even once you’ve typed “The End,” if it doesn’t quite seem like a “real” book, that’s normal! It’s your first draft. The process of feedback and revision, often multiple times, is what turns a draft into a unified and polished story.
Contact Info:
- Website: helendentwrites.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/helendentwrites/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/helen.dent.549
- Other: https://amzn.to/4389X3C.
Image Credits
Lena Key
